Fins too tight?

[rescuediverrn]

I have a weird question. I have one foot that is injured and this has come about since I started diving. I only started diving in Jan and for a while I was fine. I would always get cramps in the arches of my feet on the surface but once I was down I was always fine.

In the last 6 weeks or so I have noticed that my right foot is sore on the outside. It hurts to bear weight on the outer part of my foot near the toes and putting some pressure with my fingers just below the toes, on the outside of the foot, causes pain. For a while I just figured I pulled a muscle and waited. After about 4 weeks I went to the doctor and had an x-ray to rule out a stress fracture.

I've noticed in the last couple of days that when I get done with a full day of diving I limp a bit when I get up after sitting for a while. Is this a result of the fins not fitting properly? I have used both cheap booties and more expensive ones with soles. The ones with soles are more supportive and I don't hurt as bad when I use them but I hurt either way. I wear an XS fin and have a man's size 4 or 5 feet. Is this the right size fin? They are Aeris XP split fins. Any suggestions appreciated. I'm a nurse and have come at this from several angles and I'm stumped.

 

[pickens_46929]

It could be just the booties. I used to use the inexpensive 3mm and 5mm soft soled boots. When I switched to the tennis shoe style with the flat harder bottom my foot pains went away.

 

[Shasta_man]

Make sure you are just slipping on your fins and tightening just to snug them on, not clamp them down. It doesn't take much. You might also be clenching your foot, to get away from the pain, without realizing it. That would keep the problem going while you await improvement.

 

[rescuediverrn]

pickens- that's a good point. I bought new booties about the time this started. They don't feel tight though and I've had the same problem with both pair. I have one set of cheap ones and one pair of xcel 6.5mm. The xcel are the newer but I actually had more pain after using the cheapo ones this weekend.

shasta man- Thanks. I use the spring straps.

 

[g1138]

Spring straps should be an inch shorter than your regular straps. Some people say and inch or two but I think an inch is more than enough.

Wrap a line lightly between your fin buckle posts and around the back of your ankle to get your fin strap length. Subtract an inch from that and that's roughly what spring strap length you should get.

Compression of 6.5mm bootie isn't that much so the inch should suffice.

 

[rescuediverrn]

Well...unfortunately it's a stress fracture in my foot. I had it confirmed on monday with the results of a bone scan.
I may have done it when I rolled an ankle at Shark's Cove. Rest is the best medicine. Currently I'm battling myself on whether or not I can continue to dive while it heals. My doctor said swimming is ok but I'm pretty sure he didn't mean that carrying all the gear up and down the hill for shore dives is a great idea.

@g1138- I wasn't concerned about the compression of the bootie itself but the fact that I had to stretch them out in width. I don't think this is the culprit. Also the booties have a thick sole which can also impact the fit of the fin depending on the particular fin. Again, I don't think this is the issue. It sucks but I just plain hurt myself.

 

[RonFrank]

Bones heal quickly, as little as 4 weeks but it will not heal if you stress the injured area constantly. Time to take a break. IMO take your doctors advice whatever that may be.

 

[Capt.Gene]

I like generously large wide fin foot pockets. Even oversize. Then I select dive boot width that allows the fin to clamp on the top of my foot, not the sides of foot in the fin pocket.
Until I figured this out I had bad foot cramps.